Srinagar, July 21 (KMS): In occupied Kashmir, the Judges’ Committee report has confirmed to the High Court of the territory that the two jails – Central Jail Srinagar and District Jail Rajouri – are too crowded to accommodate more prisoners in these prisons.

Nearly all the Principal District Judges have submitted reports following the directives of the High Court in two clubbed Public Interest Litigations – one treated by it as PIL following the Indian Supreme Court directions and the other filed by Kashmir High Court Bar Association seeking better jail conditions in the territory.

A report submitted by Principal District Judge, Srinagar, in the High Court stated that 396 inmates are currently lodged in Central Jail Srinagar against its intake capacity of 364. The prisoners include convicts and under-trials, the report said.

In his report Principal District Judge, Rajouri, said that in District Jail, Rajouri, there are 182 inmates, 40 more than the capacity of the jail. It said that the detainees included convicts and under-trials.

The report further said that 70 inmates of District Jail, Poonch, were shifted to District Jail, Rajouri, in April this year following the orders of Director General Prisons as the building of District Jail, Poonch, was declared unsafe.

Meanwhile, the division bench comprising acting chief justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur directed its registry to make within a week copies of the inspection reports available to the counsels representing parties in the case.